Strangers: Giuliani And Foreign Policy

On June 12, 2007 Rudy Giuliani (Mayor, 9/11) issued his "Twelve Commitments to the American People." Rather vague, they say nothing about Iraq. Or Iran. Or Pakistan (to which our government, according to Michael Smerconish, "pays 80 million dollars a month in military reimbursements for its supposed counter-terrorist efforts"). Or Russia and Nato. Or the Palestinian Jewish/Palestinian Arab problem.

But perhaps it's not surprising. As was reported on June 18, 2007 in Newsday, Mr. Giuliani was an original member of the Iraq Study Group, popularly known as the Baker-Hamilton commission. However, after the former mayor missed several meetings (and attended none), Mr. Baker called and asked him to step down if he did not intend to appear more often. Rudy quit the commission, citing other commitments, understandable given that the other commitments garned him $11.4 million in speaking fees in 14 months.

Adored by the mainstream media- which attributes to him national security credentials for being mayor of New York City on 9/11/01- Giuliani still has not gone to Iraq. Or, apparently, expressed a serious opinion about the war, considered everywhere to be the most important issue facing the American electorate and serious Presidential aspirants. Joshua Micah Marshall reports that the former mayor expressed to the New York Times his truly decisive stance on Iraq: "Iraq may get better; Iraq may get worse. We may be successful in Iraq; we may not be."

Rudy Giuliani in the past has exhibited little knowledge about foreign affairs, and still does not.